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MEMOIR OF 



The banks of the Essequibo are here from ten to 

 twelve feet high, composed of clay and sand, with a 

 slight covering of mould, and possess a luxuriant 

 vegetation ; behind them extends generally a natu- 

 ral ditch, formed by the receding waters after the 

 annual inundation. 



At Hubucuru, Mr. Schomburgk measured a base 

 line which gave as the breadth of the river 1520 

 yards, and the height of the Arissaro hills, bearing 

 south-east at a distance of eleven miles, 640 feet. 

 On the eastern bank a creek falls in, called Mucu- 

 mucu, whence an Indian path leads to the Demerara 

 river, of only one day's journey. Indeed, by means 

 of two streamlets, tributaries of the Demerara, it is 

 possible that a regular water communication may 

 be maintained with the Essequibo, thus avoiding 

 the dangerous rapids of Itaballi. Should coloniza- 

 tion extend to the interior, it is to be hoped that a 

 point of such importance will not be overlooked. 



The forest in these parts reigns triumphant. All 

 traces of civilization have been left far behind; 

 above, around, is one dense mass of foliage. Pre- 

 eminently over all towers the majestic mora {Mora 

 excelsa, Bentham), with its dark-leaved branches, — 

 one of the most gigantic trees of the w^estern hemi- 

 sphere, and equal if not superior to British oak for 

 ship-building. The scarcely less stately and equally 

 useful saouari (Pekea tuberculosa, Aub.), which 

 bears a rich and nutritious nut ; the siriaballi, ex- 

 cellent for planking vessels and resisting the attack 

 of worms ; some species of wallaha ; the trumpet- 



